First attempt at the red petticoat

Yes this is the first view of the red petticoat. Red was very important in Tudor times because people thought that if it was worn next to the skin, it would ward off diseases.

Lucy tries on the red petticoat with lots of pins.

The next thing I must do is stitch the hem and put on a waistband. Of course, I have a sewing machine and so I’ll be cheating a bit. There were no sewing machines in the Tudor period. It must have taken a long time to sew dresses and cloaks and trousers by hand using just a needle and thread.

They even had to make shoes by hand. Imagine stitching through leather. That must have been very hard and painful. Imagine how hard the skin on their hands would become over the years. In Road to London Thomas’s father is a cobbler, making and repairing shoes. He had to work long hours for very little money.